Gareis: The Juridical Nature of Author's Rights, as well as of Trade-name and Trademark Protection

2. Abstract

Carl Gareis (1844-1923)[1] is considered to be the first jurist to have presented a consistent theory[2] of what in modern German law has developed to become the so-called "rights of personality" (Persönlichkeitsrechte), comprising what in U.S. law is called "personality rights", but also aspects of the right to privacy, the protection of personal information, protection against defamation and moral rights aspects embedded in copyright law. At the heart of what Gareis preferred to call "individual rights" (Individualrechte) is the "control of what is individual about oneself" (p. 199). Three levels are identified: "The human instinct to live, move freely, and do everything which makes life [...] individually as pleasant as possible", the "protection of a specific name which distinguishes the individual" and "that the individual be considered the author of a particular achievement and that, therefore, all (successful) consequences accruing to the author of this individual achievement really are channelled back to the individual concerned." The commentary traces the roots of Gareis's theory in German idealism and follows the development of the theory in German copyright law.[3]

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